The Purple Hibiscus Analysis

The Purple Hibiscus Analysis Purple hibiscus is the first novel of the writer Chimanda Ngozi Adichie. The novel was published in 2003, it got a lot of attention in terms of prestigious prizes. Chimanda used her own experiences from her childhood to fill in the plot and lives of the characters. She was born in Kambilis home town Enugu, she is also a catholic. The main character is named Kambile Achike, a school girl that does exceptional in school. She lives with her parents mama, papa and her teenage brother Jaja. The story takes place in a city in Nigeria called Enugu, the novel begins with Jaja refusing to go to church on palm Sunday. Jaja has no good excuse for missing church so papa throws his book at him. The book hits his wifes shelf containing her beloved figurines. This is the beginning of the end for the Achike family. Afterwards Kambili explains what happened before Palm Sunday and all the events, papas sister Aunty Ifeoma is liberal and has been giving Jaja and Kambili rebel thoughts. Kambili does not say much and she often has problems speaking fluently without stuttering. Her strict father has shaped her this way by his rules and way of living. Every day she is in a schedule making her unable to do much else than eat, study, sleep and pray. Kambili is a good student and one of the best in her class. Because she does not talk much the girls in her class thinks she is a snob, she also runs straight to her dads car after class. Kambili is not a snob, but her dad is shaping her and she is unable to create her own identity. Her dad is expecting too much from Kambili and she only manages to finish second in her term. Papa tells her god expects more from her. Papa is an important man in Enugu, he owns several factories. He also publishes a newspaper called the standard. He is a rich man so he donated money to his local church community and his childrens school. His newspaper always tells the truth about the countrys conditions and therefore is under a lot of pressure from the state. He is also known for his generosity in his ancestral town, Abba. In the Christmas, Kambili and her family goes to Abba. Her close family makes a feast that feeds the whole family. Papa calls his father a heathen because he still holds on to the old religious traditions of his people. He does not let Jaja and Kambili visit his father for long. His sister thinks he is treating their father wrong, but Papa refuses to support his father unless he becomes a catholic. Aunty Ifeomas university town Nsukka is different from what Jaja and Kambili are used to. Power blackouts, rising food prices and fuel shortages are normal in Nsukka. Aunty Ifeoma teaches and encourages her children to question authority. Ifeoma wanted Jaja, Kambili and her own children to get to know each other better so she persuades Papa to stay with her for a week. They end up living there for longer than that. Just like her former classmates Kambili is being looked at as a snob by Amaka. Kambili stays silent in Nsukka. Kambili meets father Amadi who tells her to say what she has on her mind. Amaka and Kambili becomes friends. Papa-Nnukwu becomes ill and Ifeoma takes her in to the apartment so he can stay there. They do not tell Papa in fear that he will have them sent back. Papa eventually finds out that Papa-Nnukwu has been staying there and he takes his kids back home he punishes them for staying with him by pouring hot water on their feet. Papa is being pressured by the state because of his newspaper. Ade Coker gets captured by soldiers again and tortured. The standard is being raided and shut down. Ade Coker is thereafter killed by the government. Papa beats Kambili and she ends up in the hospital. Kambili goes to Nsukku to stay with her aunt after being released from the hospital. Aunty Ifeoma gets fired and travels to America to teach. Papa beats Mama again and she shows up in Nnukwu. When Mama goes home she starts poisoning Papas tea, in Easter Mama calls and tells them that Papa is dead. Kambilis big brother Jaja takes the blame and goes to jail. Three years later visit Jaja in prison where he has been living under terrible conditions. Jajas lawyers are sure that they will be able to get him released. Kambili is very happy, but Jaja does not seem to believe it himself. She wants to travel and visit Aunty Ifeoma. In the end of the book Kambili says Silence hangs over us now, but it is a different kind of silence. One that lets me breathe. I have nightmares about the other kind, the silence of when Papa was alive. In my nightmares, it mixes with shame and grief and so many other things that I cannot name, and forms blue tongues of fire that rest above my head, like Pentecost, until I wake up screaming and sweating.

A Good Idea :: essays research papers

A Good Idea   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have lost my faith. At times I even call myself an atheist. I do not believe in god and have not since just recently. My mother was a kind, strong willed, caring individual. She also had cancer. My mother became a symbol of fighting this disease because she fought off six reoccurrences in eight years. God decided she should die. If there was a â€Å"God† then why would he let someone who was an inspiration to so many, leave us? I just do not understand. This movie however was able to reach that little part of me that still wonders if there is a being out there that watches us all. Writer/director Kevin Smith accomplishes this by doing away with all the religious jargon and approaches it in a whole new way in his latest comedy Dogma. This work of comedic genius follows Bethany, a Planned Parenthood employee who has lost all faith in god, on her holy crusade to save the world from being blinked out of existence in of all places, New Jersey. Smith takes a new approach to an old subject with Dogma. His ability to transform ideas into scripts and plotlines makes him one of the most brilliant and artistic writer/directors of his generation. Smith takes the religion of Christianity and explains it in ways that seem to bring it to life. Jesus is no longer just a character in a bible story; he appears to us as man who suddenly carries the weight of the world on his back. The holy icon is given friends, personality, and even a sense of humor. Smith is able to accomplish all of this without actually presenting Jesus as a character. The main idea of this movie is presented in a scene that unfolds in a strip joint of all places. Serendipity, a muse, explains to Bethany the explicit argument of the movie: I have issues with anyone that treats God like a burden instead of a blessing like some Catholics. You people don’t celebrate your faith, your morn it. It's not about who's right or wrong. No denomination's nailed it yet, because they're all too self-righteous to realize that it doesn't matter what you faith in, just that you have faith. Your hearts are in the right place, but your brains gotta wake up. This statement encompasses everything Smith wanted to say. I happen to agree with him.

Canadian Waste in Michigan Essay -- Argumentative Environment Trash Es

Canadian Waste in Michigan In 1986, a waste treaty between Canada and the U.S. was signed by American lawmakers concerning the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste.   Under the terms of this treaty, the EPA is to receive notification of these shipments, and then would have 30 days to consent or object to the shipment. Since 1986 Canada has shipped its garbage to Michigan to be dumped into landfills and the provisions of this treaty have never been enforced.   But now is the time for them to be enforced and stop the importing of Canada's garbage. As of January 1, 2003, the Canadian city of Toronto, Ontario started to ship one hundred percent of its garbage into the landfills of Michigan.   In 2003, Toronto exported garbage at a rate of 7.2 tons per minute.   Garbage trucks from Toronto run seven days a week twenty-four hours a day, so at the rate of 7.2 tons per minute it works out to be that Michigan imports 10,368 tons of Toronto's garbage per day.   But it wasn't always like this, Governor John Engler and his administration turned garbage into a growth industry.   The state lowered the liability standards for landfill owners and also provided tax-free financing for new facilities.   The result of these changes lead to too many landfills and not enough garbage to fill them.   So the landfill owners lowered their prices and searched even harder for garbage. Today, Michigan's private landfills charge ten to fifteen dollars per ton to dump while other landfill owners in neighboring states charge twenty five to fift y dollars per ton.   Toronto did the math and realized that it is cheaper to haul its garbage 300 miles and dump it in Michigan then it is to dump it close to home. And on top of that, Michigan has eliminated funds fo... ...g prematurely destroyed by trucks hauling garbage that is not ours.   It is our water and air that is being polluted by the hundreds of Canada's garbage trucks and millions of tons of Canada's garbage.   We will soon no longer need Canada to dispose of hazardous waste due to the proposition of using the Yucca Mountains in Nevada as a dump site.   And as for saying that Canada's garbage is cleaner than ours, who cares it is still garbage.   The U.S. needs now more than ever to enforce the treaty that was signed in 1986. Since January 1, 2001, there has been a 40% increase in the amount of garbage that is being imported from Toronto.   Michigan should not be the dumpsite for another countries garbage.   Michigan's air and water are being polluted by garbage that is not ours. American lawmakers need to stop the two-way street that is destroying the Great Lakes state.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Canadian Waste in Michigan Essay -- Argumentative Environment Trash Es Canadian Waste in Michigan In 1986, a waste treaty between Canada and the U.S. was signed by American lawmakers concerning the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste.   Under the terms of this treaty, the EPA is to receive notification of these shipments, and then would have 30 days to consent or object to the shipment. Since 1986 Canada has shipped its garbage to Michigan to be dumped into landfills and the provisions of this treaty have never been enforced.   But now is the time for them to be enforced and stop the importing of Canada's garbage. As of January 1, 2003, the Canadian city of Toronto, Ontario started to ship one hundred percent of its garbage into the landfills of Michigan.   In 2003, Toronto exported garbage at a rate of 7.2 tons per minute.   Garbage trucks from Toronto run seven days a week twenty-four hours a day, so at the rate of 7.2 tons per minute it works out to be that Michigan imports 10,368 tons of Toronto's garbage per day.   But it wasn't always like this, Governor John Engler and his administration turned garbage into a growth industry.   The state lowered the liability standards for landfill owners and also provided tax-free financing for new facilities.   The result of these changes lead to too many landfills and not enough garbage to fill them.   So the landfill owners lowered their prices and searched even harder for garbage. Today, Michigan's private landfills charge ten to fifteen dollars per ton to dump while other landfill owners in neighboring states charge twenty five to fift y dollars per ton.   Toronto did the math and realized that it is cheaper to haul its garbage 300 miles and dump it in Michigan then it is to dump it close to home. And on top of that, Michigan has eliminated funds fo... ...g prematurely destroyed by trucks hauling garbage that is not ours.   It is our water and air that is being polluted by the hundreds of Canada's garbage trucks and millions of tons of Canada's garbage.   We will soon no longer need Canada to dispose of hazardous waste due to the proposition of using the Yucca Mountains in Nevada as a dump site.   And as for saying that Canada's garbage is cleaner than ours, who cares it is still garbage.   The U.S. needs now more than ever to enforce the treaty that was signed in 1986. Since January 1, 2001, there has been a 40% increase in the amount of garbage that is being imported from Toronto.   Michigan should not be the dumpsite for another countries garbage.   Michigan's air and water are being polluted by garbage that is not ours. American lawmakers need to stop the two-way street that is destroying the Great Lakes state.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Closely Examine the Character of Melanie in Hitchcock’s the Birds

The Birds is a psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It centres around Melanie, a young city girl, who journeys into danger into a small coastal town called Bodega Bay to play a practical joke on a potential lover, Mitch. A series of unfortunate Bird attacks follow her and wreck havoc on the town and its inhabitants. As the film progresses, Melanie tries, on several occasions, to go against the social norm of women of the 1950’s; every time she does she gets punished and gradually destroyed until she becomes the dominant ideology.At the start of the film, Melanie seems strong and independent. From the offset she is seen as an individualist. In the first scene she is first seen walking down a street in a fitted jacket and pencil skirt, this was seen as too provocative and was not the usual dress code for a 1950’s woman; the norm would be a dress with either a swing skirt or a poodle skirt. Along with the fitted clothes, Melanie has perfectly groomed hair a nd perfectly painted fingernails; these are signs of her emotional state and will change throughout the film.Also in this scene the audience can hear a wolf whistle from a man directed at Melanie, she turns and smiles, telling the audience that she enjoys male attention and is comfortable and confident in the city environment. In the next scene, Melanie is in a bird shop. This is when Mitch is first seen; when Melanie first sees Mitch she immediately becomes flirtatious and thinks that she is in control of what is happening, when really Mitch is in control as he knows exactly who Melanie is while she does not know who he is.After Mitch plays a practical joke on Melanie in the bird shop, Melanie sets out to speak to him again, and when she finds out that he is not staying in his home in the city but in a small town up the coast, Bodega Bay, she sets out on her own little practical joke. This journey will take her out of her comfort zone, the city, and put her in unknown surroundings and ultimately danger. During the drive, Melanie looks very smug but is unaware that she is journeying into danger.The actions of the two love birds in their cage and the speed of the car are deliberately made to look fake as to lull the audience in to a false sense of security and to mask the danger to come, this ties into the genre of deceit that is seen throughout the film. When Melanie reaches Bodega Bay, it is quite obvious that she is out of place; all the town’s citizens are casually dressed which contrasts with Melanie’s immaculate hair and nails and her fitted clothes. Melanie is treated as novelty by the citizens that she encounters.After she plays her practical joke on Mitch at his house, she races him back to Bodega Bay but he beats her and stands waiting for her. The mood is very light hearted as both characters are smiling but the mood changes to become very serious as Melanie is struck by a seagull on the head. This is the first bird attack and the first time, of many, that Mitch is there to rescue her from danger. After the attack Melanie is composed once again but her gloves are blood stained and she does not wear them again, symbolising that her first layer of protection is gone.This first attack is the start of Melanie’s confident and independent exterior being pecked away by the birds. After the attack Melanie goes back to Mitch’s and meets his mother, a very demanding and controlling woman. In these few scenes where they are together Melanie is seen with high angle camera shots, showing that she is weak and powerless in their home, whilst Lydia is seen with low angle camera shots, demonstrating her power and dominance over the family and Melanie.In their next encounter their roles in the household switch: Lydia becoming frail and helpless whereas Melanie is now dominant and in control. The next significant change in Melanie’s character and emotional state is during the bird attack on the petrol station. M elanie shows an act of independence and defiance by taking shelter in a Telephone Box, away from the security of Mitch and other men, but when she tries to get out again she is attacked by the birds, eventually the glass panels of the Telephone box shatter, representing her fragility.High angle shows, once again, that Melanie is weak and powerless. The paint on her fingernails is still intact but her hair is not as groomed as it started out, signifying that her emotional state and independence has been damaged again and she has been punished for her act of defiance. For the second time, Mitch has to come and rescue Melanie from the birds, showing that she is becoming more and more dependable on the security of men, especially Mitch. During the penultimate attack by the birds Melanie’s state of mind changes nce again: she has regained her strength and has taken over the role of mother of the family. This is shown by low angle camera shots and in her actions. When Mitch’ s sister, Cathy, gets sick, it is Melanie, not the mother, that takes her to the kitchen. However, these moments of defiance are short lived, for after the birds appear to have left the house, Melanie hears bird sounds coming from the attic and climbs the stairs, on her own, to see what it is.She hesitates at the door of the attic, there is a close up of her hand and her nails are still intact, and when she does open the door, she does so only to find a flock of birds which attack her mercilessly. This, her last act of independence, ends in disaster and her destruction as an independent woman. For the final time Mitch comes to rescue Melanie from the birds. Melanie’s destruction is symbolised by her looking dishevelled and wrapped up in bandages. Mitch then carries Melanie to the car, demonstrating Melanie’s total dependence on Mitch.Melanie’s destruction is finally symbolised by an extreme close up of her nails, which are completely broken and chipped. The ways in which Melanie changes over the course of The Birds, her frame of mind could be compared to a yo-yo. At the start she was completely independent and self sufficient, but during different parts of the film she either lost some of her independence or gained some. By the end of the film, Melanie ends up being the polar-opposite of what she started out to be. At the end she was totally dependent on Mitch and had lost all independence. Making her the dominant ideology of a woman of the 1950’s.

Nuclear Weapons should be Extirpate Essay

Nuclear weapons are considered serious threats to the human race and have made the world an insecure residence for living organisms. Nuclear weapons are destructive weapons that obtain its force from nuclear fission and nuclear fusion reaction. Both are theses producers are very harmful for the living organism. Nuclear weapons were first conducted in world war2 on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan. It killed approximately 70,000 died immediately from the explosion and another 70,000 died from radiation within five years. The killing included the women and children. All nuclear weapons must be abolished around the world for making world secure, and save budget money. The entire world will be more secure if the planet will free of the nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are the only type of weapons in existence that have the capacity to annihilate the human species and countless other species. The reactions of the nuclear weapons live alive after many years of it’s used. The best example is Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan. The nuclear bomb was used on these cities during the world war2, but Nagasaki and Hiroshima are still suffering with the reaction of nuclear bomb. Japanese cannot grow any crop in Nagasaki and Hiroshima because the fusion reaction of nuclear bomb is still alive. Without abolition, there is always the danger that nuclear weapons will proliferate, that more and more countries will obtain them. The existence of nuclear weapons leaves open possibility that a nuclear exchange might take place. The nuclear weapons are extra ordinary costly, and the costs continue into the indefinite future. Billions of dollars are wasted each year to pay for nuclear weapons. The cost of research, development, testing, deployment, and maintenance of the nuclear program is very high. Even it becomes higher, when we include the costs of damage to the land, illness of uranium miners,  cancer deaths from nuclear pollution, and the storage of nuclear wastage. Since early 1940s the U.S. alone has spent $4 trillion on nuclear arms. If current policies are implemented, the U.S. will continue to spend some $25-30 billion on nuclear forces. What is the more important education or nuclear bombs that can kill the human? Today, Congress and Administration are watching government spending, shrinking and eliminating programs and taking measures to reduce the deficit. Despite this, the central feature of national security spending for the past fifty years, nuclear weapons, has been rarely touched. Possession of nuclear weapon does not mean that the country is powerful. Many developed countries such as, Australia, Germany, and Spain do not have nuclear bomb. Some countries have already given up nuclear weapons, showing that it is possible for a nation to be secure without nuclear bomb. Three former Soviet republics, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, became nuclear weapons free states by volunteering transferring their nuclear warheads to Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union. South Africa actually developed a small nuclear arsenal clandestinely, and then dismantled it. Argentina and Brazil have also eliminated their nuclear weapons programs even though they achieved initial success in these programs. These countries give a massage to the nuclear powers that you can succeed without nuclear bomb. In summary, the above analysis shows that nuclear weapons are weapons of great destruction. Our government wastes over thirty- three billion dollars a year of our tax money. Furthermore, nuclear weapons pose serious health risk to those around them, including the citizen. There has not been a significant impact on world affairs by nuclear weapons since world war2. Having a nuclear bomb does not guarantee the better life of the citizen, and development of the country. For these reasons, the nuclear weapons should be banned in entire world.

Nature-Nurture and the Cloned Human

The three levels in biopsychosocial theory (explained in Myers, 2006) are biological, psychological (e.g., cognitive and emotional influences), and social-cultural (unusual since these influences include those studied by social psychologists, e.g., family, peer, and other group influences).   The influences in the three levels generally interact with each other in accounting for the variability between individuals.   However, if a person wanted to be cloned, the person and the clone should be genetically identical, i.e., a result of the first level.   We do know that identical twins are essentially clones (Myers, 2006). Genetics can fully account for characteristics such as genetic sex, and also can influence or fail to influence other personality characteristics of identical twins.   Influence, however, means that genetics interact with influences from the other two levels.   Until the last paragraph of this paper, the assumption that evidence based on identical twins can be generalized to clones has been accepted. Similar article: The Case of the Boy Who Became a Girl The goal of psychologists studying personality is to account for the variability between individuals.   Behavioral-genetic research, which has been furthering this goal, has been motivated by findings that similarities between identical twins do not vary as a function of whether the twins were reared together or apart, there is considerable between-twin variability, and adopted children do not share characteristics with their adoptive families but do share them with their biological families (reviewed in Harris, 1995).   There have been consistent findings that 40-50% of the between-individual variability in personality characteristics is attributable to genetics, and the percentage of variability accounted for by genetics depends on the characteristic being studied (reviewed in Harris, 1995). Studies of genetics and IQ scores (reviewed in Neisser, et al., 1999) have provided evidence that genetics account for a large percentage of between-individual (but not between-group) variability in scores (whatever these tests actually measure!), though results can be mediated by other influences, e.g., by social expectations (from level three) and cognition (from level two). For example, children who do not care enough about their grades to appreciate the worksheet and memorization approach that passes for teaching at many schools (social expectations) may interpret these tests (cognitive influences) as yet another obstacle invented by the educational system.   Nonetheless, if you score well on an IQ test, there’s a high probability that your clone will too.   There are genetic predispositions for many characteristics, with varying degrees to which non-genetic factors interact with genetic ones, e.g., depression (Behar, 1980), attitudes (Turner, 1993), alcoholism (Hill, 1990), altruism (Ruston, 1989), shyness (Kagan, Reznick, & Snidman, 1988). Need for Further Research When people think of cloning, they seem to be asking questions such as, â€Å"if Einstein or Mozart were cloned, would the clone grow up to be a scientific or musical genius?†   First, the clones and persons would differ in some or many of   their experiences both before birth (i.e., in the womb, identical twins differ in their positions, access to nutrition, etc.) and   after.   The clones would be predisposed towards scientific or musical accomplishment.   However, Watson and Rayner (1920/2000) demonstrated that classical conditioning resulted in â€Å"Little Albert† becoming frightened of anything furry after only two trials in which the presentation of a white rat was followed by a loud noise.   So who knows what would happen if Einstein’s or Mozart’s clone tripped over an encyclopedia or violin? However, Einstein and Mozart were at the extremes of scientific and musical genius, where genetics are a greater influence than for Aunt Edna, who teaches science at Dung Hill High School, or for Grandpa Patrick, who entertains his family with heart-warming renditions of â€Å"When Irish Eyes are Smiling.†Ã‚   So there should be a high probability that Einstein’s and Mozart’s clones would make important contributions to science and music.   To my knowledge, there have not been identical-twin studies, where one or both twins received historical recognition for their accomplishments. A second type of question is related to possible differences in reproduction and cloning.     Increasingly sophisticated methods of monitoring brain activity, e.g., functional magnetic resonance imaging, have resulted in studies that have provided evidence that particular areas of the brain become activated as we develop new abilities and acquire new forms of memories, and that over the course of development, there are permanent changes in a person’s brain (reviewed in Damasio, 2002). Probably the most interesting possible change is related to our understanding that we have an internal world separate from others.   Piaget (1952/1963) studied how such a sense of self developed during childhood, and there’s evidence that different brain areas are activated in response to self-relevant information than in response to other information (reviewed in Zimmer, 2005).     Thus the question arises:   Is it possible for Aunt Edna and her clone to have a shared sense of self? References Behar, D. (1980).   Familial substrates of depression:   A clinical view.   The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 41, 52-56. Damasio, A. R. (2002).   How the brain creates the mind.   Scientific American Special Edition, 12, 4-9. Harris, J. R. (1995).   Where is the child’s environment?   A group socialization theory of development.   Psychological Review, 102, 458-490. Hill, S. Y. (1990).   Personality resemblances in relatives of male alcoholics:   A comparison with families of matched control cases.   Biological Psychology, 27, 1305-1322. Kagan, J., Resnick, J. S., & Sidman, N. (1988).   Biological bases of childhood shyness. Science, 240, 167-171. Myers, D. G. (2006).   Psychology eighth edition in modules.   New York:   Worth. Neisser, U., Boodoo, G., Bouchard, T., Boykin, A. W., Brody, N., Ceci, S. et al. (1999). Intelligence:   Knowns and Unknowns.   In R. J. Sternberg & R. K. Wagner (Eds.), Readings in cognitive psychology (pp. 486-532).   Orlando, Fl:   Harcourt. Piaget, J. (1952/1963).   The origin of intelligence in children.   New York:   Norton. Rushton, J. P. (1989).   Genetic similarity, human altruism, and group selection. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 12, 503-559. Tesser, A. (1993).   The importance of hereditability in psychological research:   The case of attitudes.   Psychological Review, 100, 129-142. Watson, J. B., & Rayner, R. (1920/2000).   Conditioned emotional reactions.   American Psychologist, 55, 313-317. Zimmer, C. (2005).   The neurobiology of the self.   Scientific American, 293, 92-101.

Facebook Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Facebook - Research Paper Example ing Facebook scored a grade point lower with their weekly period of study ranging between 1 and 5 hours as compared to 11 to 15 hours by the non-users of Facebook (23). This paper looks at the arguments by these researchers, analysing the implications of networking sites on learning and compares them to counterarguments by various researchers. Indeed, Facebook does not make us dumb but rather imparts important learning skills that prevent dumbness among its users. The evaluation of the effects of social media on learning which determine dumbness in an individual has been cited by Ahn (1436) as a complex undertaking. According to this researcher, the media effects paradigm provides appropriate explanation to the dynamics involved in influencing learning. This postulates that any media or technological form would have causal relationship on some outcome, though it remains elusive to conclude on a direct causal relationship existing between technology and social outcome like learning. But the media effect paradigm has helped researchers conclude that a media tool in itself would not influence learning but rather, the learning behaviours associated with the software used or the educational program (Ractham, Kaewkitipong and Firpo 173). According to Ahn (1437), it is the features of a technology and not a technology in itself that that constrains or propagates the usage of the tool. Furthermore, behavioural practices and cultural norms influence one’s usage of technology. This offers insights in studies seeking to determine the effects of social media. This social informatics perspective implies that the social platform media would not cause outcomes like learning; the cultural and communication behaviours exhibited by its users would. Therefore, it would be important to consider the user populations involved in these social communities, the features of the social media sites and behaviours that could be likely associated with the social outcomes (Rouis, Limayem and